Puerto Rico Has High Rate Of Baby Death, Teen Moms

OTHER NEWS TO NOTE - SOUTH

May 16, 1993

PONCE, PUERTO RICO — Puerto Rico's infant mortality rate is one of the highest among industrialized nations, Health Secretary Enrique Vazquez Quintana said Saturday. Vazquez Quintana said that the rate remains at 13.4 for every 1,000 births, even though almost all births occur at public or private hospitals. The health chief said that the inordinately high incidence of pregnancies among teenagers - and their drug intake and smoking and drinking habits - figures among the reasons for the high mortality rate. He also said many infants are born weighing less than three pounds and need expensive treatment in hospital neonatal units.